From the first Ashley Cross kill, to the final Pueblo Central unforced error, Cañon City was in control Thursday.

The Tigers led from the open as they won 25-7, 25-6, 25-11 against the Wildcats in a South-Central League match at the Tiger Dome.

The one-sided affair wasn't a surprise, given the teams' records. The Tigers now are 7-6 overall and 4-2 in S-CL play. Central fell to 2-12 and 0-8.

Because of similarly quick C team and junior varsity matches, the varsity started around 6:15 p.m. and ended shortly after 7.

"Actually, compared the first time we played them, we played so much better," Tigers coach Ken Cline said, comparing the win to their season-opener against Central. "It wasn't a real struggle last time, but this time we were in total control."

The Tigers only committed four errors in Thursday's match. They were led in kills by Lindsey Schwab's 12, Nicole Archambeau's 10, and Danika VanGorder and Cross each had seven.

Libero Demi Stringari led the team with 13 digs, followed by Kacey Ruona, Christine Conley and Cross who had seven apiece. Setter Nacole Miller had 32 assists.

The team used Thursday's match to implement its new offensive scheme. Cline said it's the first time the team has used it in a match, and it generated a lot of kills. The concept is for Miller to set the ball lower and for the attackers to hit it sooner, which doesn't allow the defense time to set up.

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"This will definitely give us confidence because we were able to run our new offense, our quicks and plays, and it wasn't slow tonight," said senior Brooke Paolino, whose job in the offense as a back-row player is to pass the ball high on the net for Miller to set.

Cline left his starters in longer than he normally would in a blowout of this proportion so that they could get extra work in the system.

Cañon City is back in action against Pueblo East (5-8, 2-4) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Pueblo. The Tigers' next home match is Oct. 9 when they host Pueblo County (11-3, 5-2).

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